Horton Hears the Questions

Jonathan Horton knows what people are saying … Did he have the year of his life one year too soon? Can he top his 2007 success and make it big in Beijing? Was his fourth place finish in the world all-around a fluke?

Horton hears the questions—and he’s asked some of them himself—but though his season started a little shaky (the back-to-back American Cup champ finished fifth amongst the seven-man field in ‘08) he’s far from down and out.  “American Cup. That was rough,” Horton reflects. “It ended up being that I messed up the events I thought I was going hit, and then I made the events I thought I was gonna’ miss. I was probably 65-70 percent ready for that meet, which isn’t really a good thing.”

Horton’s slow 2008 start is part strategy and part concession to injury. The NCAA standout wanted to finish his senior season on schedule and still save his peak for the Games this summer, but the 22-year-old was also hampered by aches and pains he’s been lucky enough to avoid in the past. “My knee crapped out bad after Worlds and I think it was my dismount in all-around finals on high bar that did it,” Horton explains. “I had an MRI and nothing showed up; it was just really inflamed. But I couldn’t do floor, or vault, for three and a half months. So, I lost a lot of strength in my legs. I’m just now getting back. It made me start really slow. I couldn’t learn a few new skills I wanted to learn.

“I definitely feel like I’m in much better shape, much more confident in my gymnastics than I was [at American Cup],” he adds. “I’ve made a lot of changes to my routines; not necessarily in difficulty, but in the way my routines are constructed, so that they work better for me now. “

For a brief, shining moment Horton’s success in Stuttgart placed him at the top of the American field—a spot he’s been trying to reach for years. But then Olympic champ Paul Hamm came back and, suddenly, Horton is once again No. 2, at best. Does that bother him?

“Not even a little bit,” Horton answers unequivocally, before adding with a laugh,  “For my mom, yes. My mom was like, ‘He’s gonna’ steal your thunder,’ and I was like, ‘Mom, you know me. You know how I think. If I stood on that podium at the Olympic Games by five of my teammates, the United States Olympic team, that would be so incredible. I wouldn’t even care what I did individually.”

Not that Horton feels his American Cup showing is an accurate reflection of where he stands against Hamm, or anyone else. “That was a bad day,” Horton insists. “I honestly think that if Paul Hamm and I hit six-for-six on the same day he’ll beat me by about a point. That’s where I think I am right now. With the way my routines are, if he hits, I’m not going to beat him. Paul is an amazing gymnast. I love having him on the U.S. team. But I’m not that far behind him, or anyone else in the world.”

Not that Horton is punching his Olympic ticket before it’s issued. “People talk about WHEN I go to the Olympics, not if, and, on the one hand, that’s good, that’s inspiring,” Horton says, “but on the other, I’m definitely feeling more stress right now than I ever have in my life about gymnastics. I have to constantly remind myself that it’s not the end of the world if something doesn’t go right.

“There are a lot of frustrations in trying to prepare for an Olympic Games,” he continues. “Every day I come in [the gym] with an expectation of what I’m going to accomplish. This is what I’m going to work on. This is what I’m going to fix. I’m going to make myself two tenths better on this event. And when it doesn’t happen, you’re sitting there going, ‘I’m gonna’ fall behind.’ “

And how does Horton squelch all the doubts: his own and those of others?

“I have to continue to think about what I want to accomplish and what I’ve done in the past to make it to my goals,” Horton says simply. “I know I’m on the right track. I know I can do it again.

“The Olympics are an amazing thing,” he adds. “It has been my dream my whole life to get there and I have to keep thinking, ‘Don’t change what you’re doing. It’s not any different than a dual meet.’ You’re still going out there and still going to do six events the best you can. Nothing has changed. When I think about that kind of thing, it helps me with the frustrations in the gym. It helps me realize I can do it. I have hit six-for-six in so many meets before. I can do it at the Olympic Games. The more I can keep the pressure out of my mind, off my body—it takes a toll, all that stress—the better I’ll be. If I can do that, I know I can be successful. I know I can make it to the Olympic Games.”

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Photo by Grace Chiu